Development of new alloys of commercial aluminium (2S) with zinc, indium, tin, and bismuth as anodes for alkaline batteries

Abstract

Studies show that the addition of zinc to commercial aluminium increases both the corrosion rate and the open-circuit potential (OCP) in alkaline medium. The addition of indium gives rise to a ternary alloy that shows a slightly higher OCP and an appreciably reduced extent of self corrosion. Addition of bismuth results in a quaternary alloy whose corrosion rate is comparable with the ternary alloy, but the OCP is found to be higher. Anodic polarisation characteristics and anode efficiency are found to be in favour of quaternary alloys. Electrochemical studies with Al, Zn, Sn ternary alloys and Al, Zn, Sn, Bi quaternary alloy favours the choice of the latter as a galvanic anode. Among the two types of quaternary alloys, those containing indium, rather than tin, are found to be more suitable as alkaline battery anodes.